Samsung Captivate (AT&T Samsung Galaxy S) Teardown

Cracking open the Samsung Captivate

The tech media hasn't hyped the Samsung Captivate, AT&T's version of the Galaxy S, as the Motorola Droid 2, the Google Nexus One, or the HTC EVO 4G. But according to TechRepublic's Jason Hiner, this device stands toe-to-toe with other Android smartphones.

Come along as we crack open the Samsung Captivate for a look at the hardware inside this extremely-capable Android smartphone.

Box

The Samsung Captivate comes with Android 2.1 and Samsung Touchwiz installed. It costs $199 (US) with a 2-year contract.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Inside the box

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Product documentation

As this is AT&T's version of the Samsung Galaxy S, AT&T documentation is included with the Captivate.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Box contents

Beneath the Samsung Captivate and the product documentation sits the charger, data cable, and headphones.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Front - Screen, speaker, and main buttons

On the front of the Samsung Captivate, you'll find the external speaker (top), Menu key, Home key, Back key, and Search key (bottom).

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Back - Camera, speaker, back cover

On the back of the Samsung Captivate are the camera, external speaker, and removable cover.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Left side - Volume key

On the Samsung Captivate's left side is the volume button.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Right side - Lock button

The Lock button is located on the right side of the Samsung Captivate. Using this key you can lock and unlock the phone's display.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Bottom - Microphone

The main microphone is located on the bottom of the Samsung Captivate.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Top - headphone jack and Micro-USB port

The 3.5mm headphone jack and Micro-USB charging/data port are located on the top of the Samsung Captivate.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Micro-USB port sliding door

The Samsung Captivate's Micro-USB port is covered by a sliding door. This photo shows the door in the open position.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Sliding open the back plate latch

To remove the Samsung Captivate's back cover, slide the bottom portion of the phone down and lift the cover away from the case.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Back cover removed

With the back cover removed, we can see the Li-ion battery, SIM card, microSD (SD) or microSDHC card slot, and external speaker assembly.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Battery - Front

The Samsung Captivate used a 3.7V Lithium-ion battery with 1500 mAh capacity.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Battery - Back

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Battery and SIM card removed

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Removing the six case screws

Six Phillips #000 screws hold the Samsung Captivate's case to the screen assembly. The first four are clearly visible on the top half of the case. The last two are hidden beneath the sliding portion of the case.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Hidden cases screws

One Phillips #000 screw is located on each side of the phone, under the sliding portion back cover.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Accessing the hidden screws

I tried for several minutes to remove the sliding portion of the Captivate's back cover, but it didn't want to come off. Afraid I would break the slider, I decided the best way to access each of the hidden screws was to slide one side of the movable latch down and keep the other side in the closed position.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Removing the hidden case screws

With just one side of the movable latch in the open position, I could remove the hidden screw on that side. I repeated the process on the other side to remove the last hidden screw.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Six case screws

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Separating the case from the screen assembly

With a very thin metal spudger, I was able to gently pry the plastic case away from the screen assembly. I started at the bottom of the case and slowly worked my way around.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Plastic tabs

Small plastic tabs hold the case to the screen assembly. There are several on each side. You should be able to release all the tabs without breaking the case or the screen assembly.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Left the case away from the screen assembly

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Case and screen assembly

With the case removed, we get our first real look inside the Samsung Captivate. The camera, headphone jack, and speaker are clearly visible at the top of the phone.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Case - Internal

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Case - External

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Removing various connectors and cables from the main PCB

The next step in disassembling the Samsung Captivate is to disconnect all the visible connectors and cables from the main PCB. This will allow us to remove the phone's various components and the main PCB.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Removing the camera

With the camera disconnected from the main PCB, it will simply fall away from the phone's screen assembly.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Camera - Front

The Samsung Captivate has a 5.0 megapixel with 4x digital zoom and auto-focus. Connected to the camera is a chip with the folloring markings:NECMC-10170020KU711ARM

Camera - Back

Main PCB screw

A single Phillips #000 screw holds the main PCB to the screen assembly.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Removing the main PCB

With the seventh screw removed, we can lift the Samsung Captivate's main PCB away from the screen assembly.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Screen assembly

This photo shows the screen assembly with the main PCB removed.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Screen assembly - Bottom

Along the bottom of the screen assembly are the connectors for the four buttons on the front screen and the antenna cable.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Screen assembly - Top

Along the top of the screen assembly are the 3.5mm headphone jack, ambient light sensor, and proximity sensor. Mounted to the back of the display is an ATMEL TSP touch control IC.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Main PCB with speaker assembly and SD/SIM slot PCB - Front

This photo shows the Samsung Captivate's main PCB with speaker assembly and SD/SIM card slot PCB still attached.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Main PCB with speaker assembly and SD/SIM slot PCB - Back

On the back of the main PCB, there are two large chips that both have Samsung markings and a connector for the SD/SIM card slot PCB.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

1GHz Processor and 16GB memory

I removed the circular, white sticker from the chip on the right in this photo.

The chip on the left is the MoviNAND 16GB Flash memory chip. The chip on the right is the 1 GHz Samsung S5PC110 “Hummingbird” (Cortex A8) processor.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Disconnect the SD/SIM card slot PCB

To remove the SD/SIM card slot PCB, we must disconnect its cable from the main PCB.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Disconnect the speaker assembly cable

To remove the speaker assembly, we must disconnect its ribbon cable from the SD/SIM card slot PCB. To do so, gently lift up on the tiny gate that holds the cable in the connector. You'll also need to pry up the translucent blue tape stuck to both the connector and cable.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Removing the speaker assembly

With all the cables disconnected, you should be able to lift the speaker assembly away from the main PCB.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Speaker assembly - Front

I'm not 100 percent certain of the large silver disk's function. It could be a component for the speaker, but it could also be the vibration motor.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Speaker assembly - Back

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Main PCB with speaker assembly removed

All that's left is to remove the SD/SIM card slot PCB from the main PCB.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Gently pry loose the SD/SIM card slot PCB

Using our thing metal spudger again, I gently pried the SD/SIM card slot PCB away from the main PCB.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

SD/SIM card slot PCB - Front

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

SD/SIM card slot PCB - Back

The back of the SD/SIM card slot PCB also serves as a shield for the chips located underneath it.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Main PCB - Top

With the SD/SIM card slot PCB removed, we can see the chips underneath it. These chips provide the phones wireless capabilities.

Main PCB - Top (chip closeup)

The large silver chip is the Samsung SWB-B23, which provides support for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Main PCB - Back

The back of the Samsung Captivate's main PCB with everything removed.

Photo credit: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Samsung Captivate completely disassembled

Cracking open the Samsung Captivate wasn't difficult, but there were a few tricky spots. If I hadn't seen the two hidden case screws, I may have damaged the case. Also, prying the case away from the screen assembly required a gentle touch and a little patience.

Overall, the Captivate appears to be a well-constructed phone with good hardware. If you're in the market for an Android smartphone and you already want to use AT&T, you should give it a look.

And for a more in-depth comparison of the Captivate to other Android phones, check out Jason's Product Spotlight review.

Cracking open the Samsung Captivate

The tech media hasn't hyped the Samsung Captivate, AT&T's version of the Galaxy S, as the Motorola Droid 2, the Google Nexus One, or the HTC EVO 4G. But according to TechRepublic's Jason Hiner, this device stands toe-to-toe with other Android smartphones.

Come along as we crack open the Samsung Captivate for a look at the hardware inside this extremely-capable Android smartphone.

About Bill Detwiler

Bill Detwiler is Managing Editor of TechRepublic and Tech Pro Research and the host of Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Prior to joining TechRepublic in 2000, Bill was an IT manager, database administrator, and desktop supp...

Disclosure

Bill Detwiler has nothing to disclose. He doesn't hold investments in the technology companies he covers.

Full Bio

Bill Detwiler is Managing Editor of TechRepublic and Tech Pro Research and the host of Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Prior to joining TechRepublic in 2000, Bill was an IT manager, database administrator, and desktop support specialist in the social research and energy industries. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Louisville, where he has also lectured on computer crime and crime prevention.